Archway is a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) and part of Redcar and Cleveland Council Local Offer (the package of services available in the authority for young people with SEN and their families.)

Our SENCO is Mr Ross Waterson he can be contacted on 01642 440 225 or via email on racrwaterson@archwayinfo.co.uk

Archway Pupil Referral Unit is a fully inclusive place of learning which ensures that all pupils achieve their potential personally, socially, emotionally, physically and educationally.  As a Pupil Referral Unit, Archway welcomes pupils in KS3 and KS4 from across the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland when they are unable to continue to attend their present school.  This may be because they are permanently excluded or at risk of this, struggling to maintain attendance because of anxiety or crisis or new to the area.

Archway provides placements according to individual needs.  These may be time-limited where pupils are supported to return to their own or another school or longer term, where pupils require a multi-agency assessment of their needs or are unable to return to school as a result of continued anxiety.

Parents cannot apply directly to Archway because we are a Pupil Referral Unit.  Professionals complete a referral form – this is generally managed by the Academies or Redcar and Cleveland Inclusion Team – and these are submitted to a panel who meet weekly to consider placements.  However we are very willing to meet parents/carers and show them around Archway if they are considering a place with us.  Pupils are not placed at Archway without the agreement of parents/carers.

Archway has close links with schools and academies within Redcar and Cleveland as well as other outside agencies.

Our Mission Statement is:   ‘All learning is an Archway to success’ which reflects our desire to ensure that all pupils, regardless of needs, access education that is appropriate to their needs. For those who are with us longer, we link with outside agencies to provide multi-agency responses to need as well as connections with further education training agencies and local colleges.

Our SEN Provision shows you how we support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

We consult with pupils and their families on our provision through:

• Regular Pupil Progress Conferences at Archway and Target Setting where parents/carers are invited to meet  key teachers and other staff
• SEN Reviews as needed
• Statutory Annual Reviews of EHCP
• The Initial Meeting for parents/carers, the pupil and any other supporting adults to talk with the Class tutors, wellbeing staff and Senior Staff, as well as representatives from referring schools. At this time, information is shared and plans made.

At Archway we welcome and value contact with parents/carers.  Our Outreach Team and Education Welfare Workers are employed to provide this service and will ‘signpost’ to the appropriate people to help.

Identifying students with SEN:

Many of our students have already been identified as having a SEN by their referring schools. Other needs are diagnosed whilst pupils are at Archway.

Our protocol for identifying SEN is that all pupils are given Baseline tests on arrival. Some difficulties (such as Reading ability) are identified during these tests. Other needs (such as processing difficulties) may be highlighted by our staff. Any member of staff can submit an SEN “cause for concern” through the SENCO. THE SENCO  will then carry out tests or observations to determine the category of need and advise on what type of support is needed.

Assessment and Review:

We hold an assessment week every term where all students are tested in the Core subjects (English, Maths and ICT). Our data manager enters all data on a tracker. Senior staff analyse all data to identify gaps in progress for different groups of children, including those with SEN.

Individual SEN targets are reviewed on a termly basis. These are in addition to the behavioural and Literacy/ Numeracy targets all pupils have.

Supporting Pupils with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and their Families:

We will let families know about any concerns about the pupil’s learning through texts/phone calls as needed and invitations to come to talk about issues as they arise.  Meetings are arranged promptly and someone is usually available at short notice to see parents/carers if they wish to come in to Archway to discuss issues.

We have a SEN register which identifies all students who receive additional intervention (anything other than normal classroom differentiation). Some students may be identified as needing an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan). Staff work hard to prepare a comprehensive referral and collect information from other services such as CAMHS and Language and Communication. The process is very person-centred – we work in partnership with the Local Authority SEN Team and parents and carers/ pupils are involved at every stage.

Transition to post-16 education:

All pupils in Year 11  have  SEND/ Transition support which is organised by the Careers lead and the outreach team. We work hard to ensure all pupils have a realistic and aspirational post-16 placement (education, employment or training). SEN pupils are offered additional transition visits to FE providers; accompanied by familiar staff. We have very close relationships with local colleges and Transition coordinators.

Post-16 provision is discussed at reviews from an early age. We encourage all our students to have high aspirations for their future and set appropriate learning goals.

Inclusion and Pupil Voice:

All students at Archway are taught in mixed ability groups. The size of these groups may vary according to the needs of children; for example pupils with anxiety issues may work in smaller groups. Reasonable adjustments are made to curricular and extra-curricular activities to allow all pupils with SEN to play a full part in all aspects of school life. We are extremely committed to equality of all kinds, therefore all school trips/ activities and extra-curricular activities are open to all eligible pupils unless a risk assessment has identified that a child’s participation would cause a Health and Safety risk to themselves, other students or staff.

Pupils with SEN have regular opportunities to formulate their own targets and, with support from staff, contribute their own views at reviews. Pupils with SEN are representatives on School Council.

There are a number of other people who come to Archway to work with pupils.  They include:

• Educational Psychologists- Pupils are generally referred to this service by the SENCO or by the pupils original school.
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• Health Services
• Family Partners/ Locality Team
• EH team
• Children’s Social Care
• Targeted Youth Support
• Addaction
• Occupational Therapist
• Police –have close links with Archway and visit regularly to take part in PHSE lessons and keep staff and pupils up to date with local issues affecting us.  They will also give advice to individuals if needed.
• Childrens’ Services & Family Partners – a number of pupils and their families need support from professional social workers or family partners.  These people visit Archway to meet with the pupils they are involved with.
• Language and Communication
• Speech and language Services
• Specialist Teaching Service

Referrals are made, where appropriate, by the SENCO and SEN team for specialist SEN support services.

We work in partnership with other education providers to make sure pupils make a successful transition to the next stages of their learning, through careful and co-ordinated planning.  For the pupils at Archway this may not be at the end of a school year or Key Stage as pupils move to other provisions or back to school depending on individual needs.  Parents/carers are fully involved in decisions about transition.  At Archway we provide  reports for the pupil’s school to show progress and specific areas to work on every half term.  We also support the re-integration of pupils back to school. We will support a return to school by attending meetings and supporting in class or in social  time depending on the need. Transitions are bespoke to the needs of the child and can be gradual.

At Archway we have a number of support staff who work alongside teachers and instructors in the classrooms to ensure pupil progress and independence.  There are two members of staff in each classroom at all times and because a number of our pupils have behaviour difficulties, all pupils are supervised by adults for the whole time they are in the building in order to keep everyone safe.

Staff Training

All staff have completed and continue to receive ongoing training in special needs and disabilities.

Our fully qualified and experienced Special Needs Co-ordinator provides advice and guidance to staff and pupils.  He is:  Mr Ross Waterson (BSc, MSc, PGCE, AMBDA, SENCO). You can contact the SENCO directly on 01642 440225

In Archway, ALL teachers are teachers of SEN. Our provision starts with the philosophy that, regardless of ability, all pupils deserve access to a broad and balanced curriculum which is differentiated to their own needs. As well as special provision for SEN, we realise that all children learn in different ways. Therefore teachers try to incorporate different learning styles into their lessons. Many of our children are kinaesthetic learners (students who prefer to learn whilst moving about) and enjoy hands-on learning with regular movement breaks.

Supporting Families

Archway works in partnership with families to help them support their children’s learning outside school.  Families are also signposted to services/organisations through the Redcar and Cleveland Local Offer. For details of Redcar and Cleveland Local Offer please visit:

http://www.peoplesinfonet.org.uk/kb5/redcar/directory/localoffer.page

Our Safeguarding and SEND Team make any referrals to outside agencies.

Emotional Health and Well-being

We recognise that students with SEN often experience difficulties with Mental Health. We have dedicated members of the Wellbeing Team Leadership Team who support the Emotional Health and Wellbeing of pupils.

All staff receive regular training from CAMHs  focusing on recognising symptoms of Mental Health. Members of the Outreach and behaviour Team have received training in Childrens Mental Health First Aid.

Behaviour

At Archway, some of our pupils may demonstrate challenging behaviours on occasions and staff are prepared for this.

We work very hard to keep everyone safe and Archway is a calm and purposeful environment in which to work. We incoporate the strategies and ethos of TeamTeach to achieve this. This is regularly updated with staff by the inhouse instructors.

The Behaviour Team, supported by SLT, liaises with all staff and provides a safe space in the for pupils who are out of class for a limited amount of time.  There will be time for reflection and restorative work as part of this intervention and parents/carers are invited to be fully involved. All pupils at Archway have behaviour targets which are reviewed regularly.

Behaviour and anti-bullying policies are regularly reviewed.  Our student council have been tasked with producing a young person friendly version of our bullying policy which is accessible to all students.

Daily records are completed by teachers and support staff working together following regular de-briefs so patterns of behaviour and difficulties can be identified and responded to. Archway uses CPOMs as its secure online recording tool.

A number of the pupils at Archway have risk assessments in place to help staff and pupils respond appropriately to specific behaviours which may be exhibited.

If you would like further information about what we offer here at Archway, then please contact us at: 01642 440225

Evaluating effectiveness

SEN provision at Archway is monitored by the Head teacher and Management Committee through performance management. We also carry out annual staff and parent audits and questionnaires to establish staff and parent confidence in our procedures.

Complaints

Any parent (or in the case of Looked After Children – designated carer) who wishes to make a complaint about SEN provision at Archway should, in the first instance, make an appointment to meet with the SENCO. We will make every effort to resolve issues informally and accommodate parental wishes. If a parent feels that the issue has not been resolved to their satisfaction they should approach the Head teacher and/ or the Chair of Management Committee;Laurence McEnnally. Representatives of Looked After Children can also approach the Head of the Virtual School for Looked after Children; J.Johnson.

We are happy to provide copies of the school’s SEN policy on request.

School entitlement to pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities

Our practice is guided by the 2015 Code of Practice for SEND –

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 (COP) provides statutory guidance on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (the Act) and associated regulations, and applies to England. It came into force in September 2014 and was last revised in January 2015.